istoryworld
Events relating to germany
German ships and marines occupy the harbours of neutral Denmark and Norway
The German invasion of Norway includes the world's first airborne assault, with troops arriving by plane to attack the airports of Oslo and Stavanger
German tanks reach the French coast at Abbeville, nine days after crossing the border from Germany
Marshal Pétain, as the new premier of France, immediately asks Germany for an armistice
A delegation from France, defeated and partly occupied by Germany, signs in Rome an armistice with Mussolini's Italy
Germany takes control of Romania, to secure the country's rich oil fields
Hitler orders preparations for the invasion of England, under the codename Operation Sea Lion
Germany, Italy and Japan form a Tripartite Pact as a military alliance
After the summer's losses in the air, Hitler orders the effective cancellation of operation Sea Lion, the planned invasion of Britain
The castle at Colditz, adapted as a high-security prisoner-of-war camp, receives 140 Polish officers as its first inmates
Adolf Hitler orders preparations to be made for Operation Barbarossa, his planned invasion of the Soviet Union
German troops invade and rapidly overrun Yugoslavia
German troops move on from Yugoslavia into Greece, driving a small British force from the mainland across the sea to Crete
In preparation for the invasion of Russia, Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler set up Special Task Commandos (Einsatzkommando) to exterminate Communists and Jews
Rudolf Hess, Hitler's deputy in the Nazi party, flies to Britain on a bizarre secret mission
Germany's latest battleship, the Bismarck, is sunk in the Atlantic with the loss of nearly all her 2222 crew
German armies cross the border to invade Russia on a front from the Baltic to southern Poland
The systematic shooting of Russian Jews by German Einsatzgruppen is the first step in the development of the Holocaust
Goering orders Reinhard Heydrich to prepare plans for the 'final solution of the Jewish queston'
Nazi experiments are carried out on Jews and Soviet prisoners of war to find effective means of murder by gas
A week or two after reaching Leningrad a Germany army establishes a siege that will last 900 days
Adolf Eichmann, in an official letter about policy in relation to the Jews, uses the phrase 'the final solution'
Bulgaria signs the Anti-Comintern Pact and joins the war on Germany's side
Reinhard Heydrich convenes a meeting at Wannsee to discuss the practical details of the 'final solution'
Hitler's chief architect, Albert Speer, is put in charge of Germany's armaments programme
